Preggo Bawl Sesh Tonight... CHECK!

Let me lay out the setting for you... I'm in the kitchen with a baggy T-shirt and lulu pants cooking hamburgers and salad.  Got my country music playlist on shuffle in the background.  It's been a busy busy day today and I'm ready for my hubby and Cars to get home for some down time.  All of a sudden a tune catches my attention.  I recognize it and my eyes start to well up a little and I'm not quite sure why yet.  All of a sudden I am taken back to January driving home to Raymond with Dust with my knees held up to my chest crying as I hear this song and knowing that this will be my last trip to see and be with my Granny Hill.  The song is called 'Holes in Heaven' by Blake Shelton and let me tell you, it doesn't matter how many times I hear that song, every time I have flashes of my best friend and I.  But this time, it was a little different.  I started thinking about December when we have our baby and thinking about how badly I wish my children could've got the chance to meet this amazing woman.

 After pushes repeat 3 times and bawling the whole time (there may be a lil taste of salty tears in the salad tonight), I thought how neat it's going to be to tell stories and share experiences of my time and memories of not only my Granny Boo, but also my children's great Grandpa Hill and other great grandparents that may or may not be around for my children's life.  Now this would happen any other day, but being preggo really brought on the tears and I just could not contain myself AT ALL for like 10 minutes.  Felt good to be honest haha  I've decided it's healthy to have a good bawl sesh every once in a while whether it's from watching a movie, listening to a song, or stubbing a toe while walking home from my walk (yes this happened and I did have a lil sesh haha).

I have been getting bugged to put a pick up of my ENORMOUS belly... so here it is people...

that's right 18 weeks and proud of my bump that no one believes is really a baby haha.  I've had a few people tell me that they think I'm carrying further back and that's why I'm not showing as much as the 4 other people I know are due around the same time as me and they actually have a bump that looks like a baby's inside haha.  I'm sure I'll be wishing I was back to this time soon enough where I barely have a belly, but I am excited to have that preggo belly where people KNOW you're pregnant and not just gaining a front tire around my belly haha.

I'm excited for tomorrow because it's St. John's civic holiday tomorrow called the Regata.  It's kind of like a mini festival where they have rowing races and a bunch of tents with activities and food set up and it's held at the lake (Quidi Vidi) that I walk around all the time.  I'm hoping the weather is beautiful!!  I will make sure to take my camera and get pics.. promise haha

Holy Back Pain!!!!

So our lives have not been very exciting lately, so I haven't done a blog in a while.  I haven't even taken any new pics, so this one may be a little more boring, but I am going to talk about my new back I've been experiencing.

 

The problem is I don't even look pregnant and I am having bach pains.  I'm nervous for how it's gonna be when I actually have a huge belly pokin out.  It all started about 3 days ago when I woke up with a bit of a back ache.  I adjusted to my other side and was fine, but it has been getting worse.  Last night, I probably slept 4 hours because no matter what position I tried to sleep in, I was hurting.  I put a pillow to support my back and one in between my legs and neither helped.  So I was up early and finally decided to go have a warm shower and let the water massage my lower back.  It felt good, but the ache hasn't gone away all day. :(  

So I asked around and heard that massages and doing prenatal yoga can help.  I have a massage booked for next Tuesday morning and am starting yoga next Wednesday.  Hopefully I make it to next week without having a major breakdown to Dust haha.  Poor guy has to deal with this overly emotional lady for the next 5 months and probably after that too :)  He's such a trooper and thank goodness he can sleep through anything because I would keep him up all night with my restlessness :)

The boys are working hard and ending their summers really well!! I'm so proud of both of them!! Cars leaves on the 8th of August and we're gonna miss him around here!! It's been fun to have him around to hang out with and Dust loves having another guy to chill with.

 

Also some very exciting news... we found a place to live in the fall and I'm sooooo stoked about it!  I was worrying about finding a good place as we're across the country and won't be home till the end of August, so we were checkin up on kijiji every day and I found a house with 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms with open concept and landlords that seemed to be very on top of things and clean.  We emailed back and forth with them and my mom ended up going and checkin the place out along with another place we were lookin at and she assured me that we wanted this house.  So we set up a skype session with them so they could get to know us a little more in person.  They seemed super nice, but I wasn't sure what our chances were with it being such a great place and price, so I asked her how many people they had interested and she said they got 30 emails about it.  I probably had a shocked look on my face because she quickly replied with 'and we've pretty much narrowed it down to... you guys'.  EEEEEKKKKKK I was sooo pumped!  The only problem is... we have zero furniture haha We're starting from scratch, so we'll be shopping around when we get home to get our new lil home feeling cozy and like our own.

Dust and I are also booking a trip to Vegas for our 1 year anniversary, which should be fun!  We've got the hotel picked out (the Aria Resort) and the package found, now I just have to get my passport renewed before I leave in 3 weeks :) haha  Dont' worry, I've already started the process and will hopefully have everything in on Monday.  They say it takes around 10 days if you take it in person, so crosses my fingers :)  That's about it with us!  We're both really looking forward to being home with our families, but are trying not to think about it too much as Dust needs to be focused on finishing the summer well and I need to not distract him with my excitement haha.

First Burn of the Summer in July!!?!?!?!?

I know, what the heck eh!!?!? I'm usually the one who's already tan in the middle of May, but Newfie-land has been a little different than back home.  We've finally started having gorgeous weather!  Today the other wives and I went to 'Sunshine Park' where there was supposed to be a sandy beach.  We would call it more of a pebble beach... not sand though haha.  We had a lot of fun and although the wind was blowing pretty cool air, we all got a lil burnt!  I think I will sleep really well tonight.  Bring on the sun!!!!!!

 This is the lake that I walk around 2-3 times a week... the flowers were gorgeous this day!

On July 1st, we spend the day at Middle Cove where we had heard you can see whales from the shore and we did just that.  I guess thousands of little fish that the whales love to eat start moving in toward the shore into this little cove, so the whales come in pretty close.  I would say this whale was within 40 yards of us.  He was huge!  

 There were a few people out with nets catching the little fish.  They catch them and cook them up or cut them into chunks and put them in their garden.

  It was a beautiful July 1st and we had a great day out there.  In the evening the whole Vivint crew came out and we had a bonfire and set off fireworks.  Carson, Dust and Luke all go tackled into the water after a little competitive game at the office a few days prior.  I took a video of it all with Cars' phone and it was pretty hilarious and they were freezing at night from the cold ocean water!
                                     

 Last Sunday, we headed out to Cape Spear which is the most easternly part of North America.  The fog was coming in, but it was still a beautiful day and fun to walk around and take in the beauty!

 There was a cave that you could walk through, so of course the boys wanted to do some investigating inside!

It was so cool watching the waves smash against the rocks and the grass and trees are so green and lush!

Other than that, life is pretty much the same.  The boys work their hiney's off and I get to play in the sun (when it's out).  I'm 16 weeks prego this week and am feeling pretty much back to my normal self besides the fact that my stomach is growing bigger every week :)  I'm so glad to be over the sickness and am sooooo looking forward to our ultrasound on August 3rd :)

Bookworms Magoos

Alright, well I'll start with our little NBA finals shindig.  Dust wanted to do a little NBA finals 'party' with the 3 of us and I was put in charge of the food.  So I thought 'well what's better than good ol hamburgers with fruit salad with some pop' and off to the store I went.  The boys were pretty excited and enjoyed scarfing down dinner.  We also had chips and dip and although we didn't enjoy the outcome of Game 6 with Miami winning it all, we did enjoy the delicious food that accompanied the game :)

Last Sunday, we had an office bbq at the rocky beach we go to.  It was a ton of fun!  It was an absolutely beautiful day with the sun shining and little to no breeze.  We had smokey's and snacks galore!  The boys threw footballs around and some even dared to play in the water a little.  They did a marshmallow competition where they had to put as many marshmallows in their mouth as they could and say 'funny bunny' to pass to the next level.  My pregnant stomach didn't enjoy watching, but I did get a couple good pics and a video of the boys doing it.  Pretty hilarious.  We have such a great office with great families, which we feel very blessed to have!  It makes a huge difference when you're working and surrounded by great and positive people!

Here's Cars playin catch with Ben and below Dust has got his mouth full of big, white, fluffy marshmallows :)

I just couldn't resist this morning.  For two months now our morning have consisted of us waking up, Cars turning on the country music station on the tv, hustle and bustle with getting the boys ready and sending them off.  This morning was quite different and it was so peaceful and a REALLY nice change.  Dust and I got up a little earlier to go get some groceries together at Dominion, which turned out being a little interesting as we were going through checkout and I started gagging and had to run out the door to spit up some flem :)  I felt fine after haha.  When we got back, we put the groceries away and Dust made breakfast for Cars and him.  Now here's the fabulous part... initially Cars had turned on the tv to listen to country music, but after the boys finished eating... all of a sudden it was silent.  It didn't hit me at first, but as I finished my own breakfast, I felt like something just wasn't right... it was too quiet.  This is how I found the boys:

That's right, both completely entranced in books they're reading.  I couldn't believe it haha.. I'm supposed to be the reader in this house haha.  Carson downloaded a book that was shared with him in a meeting by Jake Bevans, who Cars has bonded with and looks up to.  The book is called 'Outliers' by Malcolm Gladwell and he is just amazed with the content. He keeps sharing lil tidbits of the book and then back to reading he goes.  I don't think I've ever seen Cars get into a book like this!  Might I add that it was CARSON who turned the tv off too, so he could concentrate more on his reading :)  And Dust... every night now (and perhaps mornings to come now) he has been reading 'Hunger Games' which I have been trying to get him to read since last Christmas.  Now he can't put it down haha.  We went and saw the movie in Edmonton and he really liked it, so he is just loving the book and how it has more details and parts to the story.

It was a relaxing and proud morning for me :)  I felt like a proud momma watching her boys dive into the great world of reading and it was fabulous!  Now I just have to work on finding books for them to read after they've finished these ones. So fun!!! :)

One Lucky Lady

So as you all know, yesterday was Father's Day and we had a pretty great day. Unfortunately I caught the horrible cold/flu that the boys had last week and this weekend was a rough one for me.  Not fun getting sick while pregnant!  Saturday night, I had trouble breathing when I laid down because both of my nostrils were plugged completely and my throat felt closed and my breathing was unsteady.  Dustin tried calming me down with a back rub and I called mom for some advice which she said I may have to sleep sitting up tonight.  In my highly emotional mind, I thought it was the end of the world and just wanted to cry myself to sleep haha, but Dust came to the rescue and forced me to go have a warm shower as he said it would help clear my nose, breathing, and the chills I was experiencing.  I did as I was told and it definitely calmed me and warmed me up.  It took a little while to get to sleep, but finally got some sleep.  When we woke up, I felt like the room was spinning :(, but it was Father's Day and I wanted to do my best to make it a great day for Dust.  So we got ready for church and headed to sacrament... which ended up being... well... difficult for me.  I was sweating and then cold, and sniffing and coughing and wanted to stretch out on the bench and fall asleep haha.  So we headed home after sacrament.  I had a nap and the boys went fishing with Ben Sommerfeldt.

Dust got a new wallet, 2 fancy dancy ties, and a very high end homemade T-shirt :)

Now about a week ago, I had invited Ben (whose wife and kids have been in Alberta the whole time he's been here) and Ricky (another single guy who Cars and Dust have became buddies with and who catches a ride to church with us) over for a Father's Day dinner.  I put roast in the oven in the morning and had big plans for the meal.  I set my alarm to wake up and get dinner ready while the boys were out.  Not so fun when your head is spinning, but I got it done and the boys LOVED the meal.  I made some dessert that the boys also devoured and we had a good time.  After dinner, we all headed out to go fishing, which was fun.  Of course, Cars fell in a couple times and Dust too, but they came back to the car with smiles and good stories.

                                             

Dust just fishin away and below Ricky tryin to untangle Cars' old fishin line while takin a stroll :)

And here's a gorgeous picture of the path we walked on to get to the river where the boys went fishing :)

What a lucky lady I am to have such fun guys around eh!?!?!  But here's the REALLY lucky lady part.  Even though it was Father's Day yesterday, which shoulda been solely focused on Dust, we got home from fishing and Dust turned another shower on for me, gave me a massage and rubbed vicks on my chest and throat and tucked me into bed by 9.  Lucky right!?!?!? Well guess what I woke up to... a spotless bathroom and kitchen too.  He deep cleaned both and they looked FABULOUS!!!!! It felt so nice waking up to a clean home!  I feel so lucky to have a such a great man in my life.  He always let me know that he appreciates all the things I do around the house during the day and even chips in and helps do things when he gets home!  Sure do love my Dust!!!!!!

And here's some catch up pics of our lil adventure here in Newfie land :)

Sometimes Dust is REALLY tired when he gets home from work and falls asleep in 'interesting' positions haha

My snack craving one day haha

One day it was incredibly foggy here and I caught some pics from Signal Hill lookout 

Hawaiian haystacks for dinner :)

We're having fun and enjoying out team on the East coast!  Excited to be home with our families again in a few months and get preparing for our new lil addition in December :)  Oh and Dust had our first baby dream last night that he shared with me.  He had a dream that we had baby twin girls and that I took them to the grocery store and had one baby in each arm with groceries and made it home and he tried to do the same thing with the babies and groceries and gave up at the grocery store cuz it was too hard haha.  We had a good laugh!

Daddy... I Love You!!!

Happy Daddy Day!!!!  I know this is a lil early... but I couldn't wait till next week!!!  Here are just a few reasons why I love my daddy eleventy -four:

1. His passion for sports... especially watching and supporting his kids in their sporting activities!

2. His love for the outdoors has been passed on to all his kids and we have all grown a passion for hiking, camping, hunting, and just spending time in the beautiful land we are surrounded by.

3.  I love how when he sets his mind to accomplish something... it gets done!

4. He always has good advice (even if I don't always follow his brilliant counsel hehe)

5. He tells great and creative stories just like Granny Hill did for us ;)
6. He love love loves his dogs! It's so fun to see him play or train them and you can tell he loves dogs!
7. He's such a handsome devil :)
8. He makes the best french onion soup, chimichangas, steak and mushrooms in the whole entire world.

Daddy and I have a special and unique bond.  We are both stubborn ol mules (mostly him hehe) and sometimes knock heads, but we sure do love each other and would do anything to help the other.  He's one of my best friends!  I appreciate all the sacrifices and support he has given me throughout my life and love him more anything!  So although dad doesn't like father's day or his birthday to be a big deal... today is a big deal because we get to celebrate our amazing daddy who has been there every day.  So dad... take some time today to sit down and reflect on how amazing you are and how many people love and appreciate you in their lives!!!!  I love you eleventy-four daddy!!

And just to show how much he loves me... check out the latest gift he got for Dust and I... well kinda for Dust and I...

Ya it's a little small for Dust and I... so I guess we'll have to put it on the baby that's coming at the end of December!! That's right... we're pregnant!! Due date is December 29... so Christmas will be interesting this year! :)  We're really excited!  Especially cuz Lynz is also pregnant and due in October, so we're gonna have lil babies close together!  Lynz is so pumped that FINALLY one of her siblings in starting to have kids haha! She's been hounding me for a few years now, so i'm glad I can make her happy!  Anyway... I'll be keeping ya updated on preggo life for the next few months.

Satisfaction!

Well my reflection for this post is a day when I felt ultimately satisfied with my life... well... I do remember a day when I was in South Korea.  I had spent a busy weekend with the Rogers' family and was heading back to Uijeongbu on the 1 1/2 hour subway train ride home.  I took my journal out and started thinking about my life over the course of the past 10 months I had spent in Korea and I broke down specific aspects of my life: spiritual, physical, mental, and emotional.

As I thought about these four parts of my life, I couldn't help but smile and feel great pleasure in how I was living my life.  Spiritually: I felt closer to my Heavenly Father than every before and I wasn't afraid to share it with anyone who came in my path (as long as they spoke English haha).  I felt more confident in my scripture study and gospel principles.  I wasn't afraid to share my thoughts and feelings during classes or activities and I felt like I became an example in our branch and it felt amazing.

Physically: Well along with losing 30 lbs while I was over there, I also felt energetic and strong.  I gained a love for walking and an appreciation for taking the stairs rather than the escalator (mostly because I could get up the stairs faster than on the escalator).  Sadly I still had some insecurities, which I now think 'what the heck was I complaining about', but I was happy and felt more content with my physical looks than I have in my life.  I felt beautiful, strong, healthy, and happy!

Mentally: I think through certain experiences I had while in Korea, I was forced to expand and challenge my mind and way of thinking.  I learned to think more for myself than to follow what others wanted me to do.  I gained more confidence in my ability to learn and to teach and gained a passion for both.  I think the greatest mental gift I gained was the power of optimism/positivity.  PJ is the happiest and most positive individual I have ever met and I truly didn't know it was possible for someone to be so happy and to have such an enormous and positive influence on those around.  I didn't realize it till I got home, but spending time with the Rogers family was such a great blessing as an abundance of their positive energy was shared with me and I was the happiest I have ever been.  PJ taught me that a huge part of why he is always so happy is because of his mindset.  Every morning he wakes up and says to himself that it's a great day and that he is awesome.  It sounded silly to me at first, but PJ challenged me that every morning I go to my bathroom mirror and say 'Dang, I'm beautiful!' and 'Man I am smart' as well as 'Today is going to be a great day!'.  The first time I did it, I laughed at myself and thought I had clicked into Looney Land, but as I continued to do it (and not even every day), my attitude and perspective of not only myself, but those I was surrounded by began to alter and change in a more positive and productive way.  What a blessing and something I need to work on getting back to again!

Emotionally:  Korea was very lonely in the beginning and took a toll on me emotionally at times.  I definitely had some good tears of sadness, plenty of happiness, some anger, and other emotions, but I gained respect and more awareness of my emotions and was able to make adjustments when needed.

Yes, this was a great day!  I realized that by focusing on little goals within each of these four aspects of my life, I became the woman I had always wanted to become.  It makes me a little sad to think that I've lacked in a few of these areas since that time, but it also motivates me to buck up and live a happier and more fulfilling life both for myself and for those around me.  It's amazing the influence one person can have on a group of people and this is true in a variety of atmospheres.  No matter what my mood was for the day, I knew when I walked in the Rogers home, I was going to be happier and feel better about myself.

So I am VERY glad this reflection came up because it's a great thing to be reminded of often and a very satisfying moment in my life that I want to revisit often in my current life!